The Spaceship Stage: One of the biggest stars of the show was the stage itself. Conceived by ELO's manager, Don Arden, this was a gigantic metal hamburger-shaped spaceship that opened up at the beginning of the show with lasers, fog machines and taped music of an excerpt of Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20 (as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrι Previn) blasting out to the audience. As it opened, the band was raised from out of the floor on hydraulic risers. There the band played until the end of the show, when they walked off stage and it closed back up with more laser and fog theatrics and a repeat of the Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20 excerpt once again blasting out to the audience. Jeff Lynne has commented in several interviews that he sometimes left the stage after the performance and rushed out to stand with the audience so he could watch it close. The set was designed by Michael Crisp and is reported to have cost half a million dollars to construct.

The magic of the stage was pulled off in a carefully choreographed sequence. The stage holes for ELO members to rise up were capped over and the equipment for ELO and the opening bands would be staged in rows by who was playing (with ELO naturally being in back). The bottom half of the saucer would be hidden in plain sight by simply not adding the plastic covers of the saucer, thus the framework was visible. The top half of the saucer with the lighting would be hoisted high enough and curtains provided if necessary to hide the top of the saucer, but leave the lighting visible so that it appeared as a normal lighting rig during the opening acts. Before ELO came on stage, a curtain was lowered to completedly hide the stage. The road crew would move the band's equipment into position and remove the caps for the band elevators. Additional crew would add the plastic covers to create the bottom half of the saucer and the top half of the saucer was lowered to about 8 feet above the stage to allow the crew to add hoses from the top to the bottom for pumping in the show's smoke effects. Finally the top half of the saucer with the lighting was lowered into position to create the closed saucer. The curtain was then removed to reveal the spaceship and the show would begin.

Practicing for the show began in January 1978 at SIR (Studio Instrument Rentals) in Los Angeles, after a short Christmas break. They started the tour at the end of the month with first an appearance in Hawaii, then off to tour New Zealand, Australia and Japan. After another month long break, they toured Europe in late April and early May. They then practiced with the newly built spaceship stage in late May 1978 at The Who's studios in Shepperton in England. Apparently Pete Townsend came in during the practicing, saw the ship and declared that he wanted one for himself! This was likely in jest as he never got one. After several shows in the Wembley Empire Pool with the spaceship (and a single show in Stafford without the stage), the stage was shipped to America and the big three month tour with the spaceship was performed.

Unfortunately, as much fun as this stage was for the audience, it caused a lot of havoc for the band. It was incredibly expensive to operate and transport. It used many technicians to construct, operate and deconstruct it for each show; and it required thirteen 18-wheelers to transport it from city to city. In fact, it was so expensive and time-consuming to use that it was mostly used at every other performance (dubbed the "A-shows"), with the non-spaceship parts of the tour using a regular stage at the venue (dubbed the "B-shows"). All shows included a laser light show, regardless of whether the spaceship stage was used or not. The hydraulic lifts did not always work properly, which meant that sometimes the entire band would not be on stage when the show (including the taped song intros) began. Worst of all, it caused the music to suffer as the spaceship set was a very hot place in which to play. This caused the band's instruments to often go out of tune, particularly the cellos and violin. And the acoustics in the spaceship made it difficult for the band to hear themselves properly.

Regardless of whether the spaceship stage was used, the show always offered a heavy laser light show, incorportating an 80-channel light console and four krypton and argon laser units. They used two portable power units to generate 525,000 watts of light. The show was touted as being "four times brighter than the average rock show" at the time. These lights and lasers caused an incredible amount of heat for the band to perform under.

At one of the Wembley shows, Jeff Lynne was surprised after the show to go backstage and find Bob Dylan had been there watching the show. Bob was in London performing concerts at Earl's Court at the time and wanted to come by to catch the show. This was the first meeting of Jeff and Bob, who nearly 10 years later would be recording together for the Traveling Wilburys.

Backup Tapes: Due to the complications of trying to reproduce the music on the album in a live setting and the problem of the heat causing the instruments to go out of tune, the band relied heavily on a tape system as backup. That's not to say that they didn't play live or that the audience was hearing these tapes instead of the band. Tapes were used on some of the parts that could not be played live, such as the intros to Night In The City, Standin' In The Rain and Mr. Blue Sky. Otherwise, the tape music was turned down low and used as a guide for the band to keep in synch. If, perchance, the instruments went out of tune, then the tapes could be turned up to correct any errors. The tapes were not meant to be heard by the audience when the band was playing.

Tapes had been used on previous tours for intros and it was never a problem. But it became a problem on the Out Of The Blue tour, for several reasons. The band was a subject of a 1979 lawsuit from Brass Ring Production, the promoters of the big shows with Heart at the Pontiac Silverdome on August 12th and 13th. This promoter tried to sue the band saying that he paid for a live show but didn't get one. In truth, the promoter was using this as an excuse to get back some lost money due to skyrocketing costs from shoddy local production support and softer than expected ticket sales. An ELO spokeman's response was, "anyone who knows anything knows that a lot of groups use tapes as part of their show." The results of the lawsuit are unknown at this time. Certainly the lawsuit didn't help the band's reputation and brought to the public's attention that they were using these backup tapes. Perhaps because the audience could sometimes hear the tape backup from time to time. Also, because the band was so popular and the tour was so high profile that critics, as they are often wont to do, were using it as a convenient excuse to deride the band. This wasn't helped any by the broadcast on TV of ELO's performance at Wembley Empire Pool in which the original recordings were very heavily mixed over the live performance, making it appear as if the band is simply miming the songs. In any case, by the end of the tour the band had gained an undeserved reputation as a band who mimed to tape on stage.

The spaceship stage was only used at the UK Wembley shows and North American shows, not the Japan, European and non-Wembley UK shows.

Wembley Charity Show: The first show in England on June 2, 1978 with the newly constructed spaceship stage was a charity show to benefit the Invalid Children's Aid Association. At the Wembley Empire Pool, it was attended by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (Prince Richard and wife Birgitte) and included a special introduction by actor Tony Curtis. This was filmed for television by director Mike Mansfield and was shown in the UK through syndication. It was likely shown in other territories outside the UK, but that remains unconfirmed. It was this film, that added in much of the studio recordings over the actual live recordings, that later was used as evidence by some that the band was lip-synching on stage. The film only included about half the songs performed that night. It also included the Tony Curtis introduction and the spaceship opening and closing. Also filmed were the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester arriving for the show where they were greeted by ELO's management, Don, Dave and Sharon Arden; and a short segment after the show where the Duke and Duchess met each member of the band, talked briefly with them, and ended with Tony Curtis meeting them and giving them a check for the charity. It's unclear if these meetings were part of the original broadcast or not. The film and the meetings have been released on home media many times over the years beginning in 1980.

Anaheim Show: The show in Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California (a suburb of Los Angeles) was a special show with a dramatic presentation. After the Trixter, Kingfish and Journey opening sets, a large red curtain was lowered in front of the incomplete spaceship stage so that the technicians could complete the stage and set up ELO's equipment. As the show started, actor Tony Curtis stood on a man lift in front of the curtain hiding the spaceship stage. He had optical green lasers attached to his arms and hands. Behind the main stadium walls between the walls and speaker scaffold were several airbags, typically used when stuntmen tumble from buildings. Up in the scaffolding Scaffold were several Star Wars styled stormtrooper dressed stuntmen. There had been wired pyro on diagonal wires from the man lift holding Curtis to the stuntmen's positions on the scaffold. As Curtis started the show, he got into a mock battle with the stormtroopers. He would point his arm/laser at them and the pyro would shoot up the wire, explode at the stuntmen, who would then tumble twenty-five feet or so into the air bags. After this battle, Curtis urged the audience to look to the sky. Spotlights lit up a saucer prop hanging below a helicopter above and behind the stage. As this happened smoke filled the still covered spaceship stage, the curtain went up, and the spaceship stage separated. The elevators lifted portions of the band and the show was on.

String Solos: As in previous shows, Mik Kaminski and Hugh McDowell were able to perform solo violin and cello performances during the show. Mik performed a self-written and unnamed solo piece which merged with a brief segment from of In The Hall Of The Mountain King and ended with the drums, bass and keyboards joining in for the classical piece Hungarian Dance No. 5. Hugh performed his own self-written and unnamed solo piece which merged with a very frantic performance of the classical piece Flight Of The Bumblebee. What made Hugh's performance especially fun for the audience was that he used his famous silver cello and wore a silver costume during the performance. Green lasers shot toward him during the performance were reflected all across the stage and the audience, creating a stunning visual spectacle.

The Out Of The Blue tour was also the swan song of the classic ELO; following this tour, the band was to be forever changed with the loss of the string players from the band (except for the occasional promotional appearance and Mik Kaminski on the Time tour and very rare studio contribution) and the beginning of the decline in ELO's critical acclaim and popularity.

The final two shows of the tour, to take place in Montreal, Canada with the spaceship set, were cancelled due to a tax disagreement with the Montreal or Canadian government.

Roadcrew memories from Ed Simeone
My recollections of the ELO 1978 World Tour are a bit foggy, as it was 35 years ago. I was recruited by John Downing at the TACSO offices on Lambeth Road, and asked to join the crew at the start of the European leg, before the "flying saucer" was added for the Wembley Empire Pool shows. The European leg was uneventful, with the shows fine tuning the set list for the upcoming London gigs.

Rehearsals for the UK show began at one of the major motion picture studios, perhaps Shepperton or Pinewood. The domed shape of the saucer lid turned out to be an acoustic nightmare. Sound on the stage was bouncing off the dome and made for a very ambient environment. What a bummer for Jake the monitorguy, dealing with that!

The band crew was a wonderful bunch a guys to be on the road with. Phil, Pete, and Brian were from the Birmingham area and had been with the band for a long time, while Tony came from the London area. I was the only American on the backline crew, originally hired to care for Richard Tandy's huge keyboard rig, that consisted of a white Yamaha C7 grand piano, Polymoog, Wurlitzer piano, Yamaha CS80, Hohner Clavinet and Mellotron; all running through a Midas PR04 console. Luckily we carried two Mellotrons and three Wurlitzer pianos. That allowed me to do maintenance on those units and rotate them when needed. Bill Hough from TASCO inspired me to build a custom module for the Midas console for the Helpinstill piano pickup. That module had individual FET preamps for each of the Helpinstill pickup bars. That made a big difference in those pre-digital piano days. I believe KEYBOARD magazine did an cover story about Richard Tandy and the rig in the October or November 1978 issue.

The Wembley shows were the amazing and broke attendance records that remained until the 1980s. The US tour started in Omaha NB June 30th, beginning a flying tour that had the lighting, sound and band crew flying city to city (tour buses were not what they are today). We all invaded the local airport early in the morning and flew on to the next gig. We must have been a sorry sight, all hung over from the night before in most cases. That all ended for the band crew after July 11. We were eating breakfast in a diner in Greensboro NC when one of the production guys, nick-named "the Beast" sat down, took off his shoes and put his feet up on the counter! We sat at our booth table in total shock. Later that day we went to John Downing and refused to travel with the rest of the crew. As a result we got our own flights, and traveled in our own rent-a-car. We did not arrive at the venue until 2PM. That was luxury!

Tony left the crew in Texas after a row with the promoter (something about not getting a commemorative T-shirt after the show) and at that point I took over his wireless duties with the string section, although Mik Kaminski mostly took care of himself. We carried five Vega wireless units that Jeff, Kelly, Melvin and Hugh also used, that were marketed be Ken Schaffer in NY, ELO being an early adoptee of wireless technology.

All in all, I had a blast on this tour especially hanging out with the Birmingham crew guys. One of my fondest memories was "translating" for them
in restaurants. We would be in the Deep South and Pete would order a "dooble-egg and chips" for breakfast and the waitress would go "Uuuu want a
whaat?"

The Anaheim show was the highlight of the US tour with Journey as the Special Guest on the bill, although the Madison Sq. Garden shows in NY were
mighty special too. All the controversy over the Pontiac MI shows and the "tapes" was really down to the promoter losing a lot of money on the shows, as the production costs skyrocketed and ticket sales were less than expected. The Pontiac Silverdome was just too large a venue. I felt bad for the band. They were playing just as hard as ever. Yes, there were playing OVER the tapes on selected songs, but this was no Brittney Spears show. Those guys were playing their asses off every night. I never heard or read the outcome of that legal hassle.

After the tour ended Davie Kirkwood and I and several other sound crew went to work for Jet Productions in Woodland Hill CA, but that came crashing down in March of 1979 when Jet Records pulled the funding in the midst of us building two area size PA systems. It was one hell of a ride for the year of
1978 though.

Editor's Note: Special thanks to Ed Simeone for taking the time to share his memories with the Jeff Lynne Song Database.

Roadcrew memories from Ed Stockslager
I worked for Spectra-Physics at the time when the band was in Oakland California. It was in August of 1978 I think.

The argon and krypton were gas ion lasers built by our company. I believe the laser systems were rented from SHOWCO out of Dallas Texas (they provided lasers for Led Zeppelin/Genesis/Yes). Myself and one other technician were called out to improve the optical power. We cleaned Brewster windows and optics. In addition, the lasers power supplies needed some work. We were running late; a trip to Spectra-Physics, Mtn. View (40 miles south of Oakland) was needed for a replacement pass bank regulator.

Didn't get to see the show; ELO roadies were great guys to talk with. They were worn out (no sleep). We only wished we could have attended the show.

ELO's crew were very courteous and friendly. The following doesn't pertain to ELO but these were interesting applications of ion lasers: We worked with Yes, Genesis and the Who. The Who's crew would modify (bypass-pass) the laser system's power supplies for several additional watts of power. This would burn out the plasma tubes prematurely. They expected Spectra-Physics to cover the tubes under warranty!!

Editor's Note: Special thanks to Ed Stockslager for taking the time to share his memories with the Jeff Lynne Song Database.

Construction memories from Mark Mumford
The UK lighting supplier was a company called Showlites based at Borough in South London. (TASCO and other suppliers were nearby.) I was working there on other shows at the time the saucer was being built and well remember various truss components arriving from TAS. At that time the straight lengths of triangular alloy trussing were starting to be widely used but corners were unheard of and the saucer needed angle corners to create the shape, joining straight lengths together, truly curved sections being a long way off! My flatmate worked for Alderham a sister company of Showlites who had the top floor of our building and built the lighting desk (console) and the dimmer racks which were newly built and caused many problems!

In those days even a relatively large company like Showlites could only afford to run about 2 big rigs and gear would be adapted for a client as close to the stock on the shelf! I do remember that when several big shows came back at the same time stuff was stacked everywhere inside and outside the warehouse and there was very little room to build a new rig! Our boss was a guy called Eric Pearce who saw the opportunity to set up a subsidiary in the US (called Showlites Inc?) and I think eventually moved there. Dallas? Our warehouse was in the old Leathermarket buildings in Weston Street London SE1 not far from London Bridge. The building survives but is a very upmarket hipster office space now! Our next door neighbour was Richard Dale's RDE, another lighting company.

Editor's Note: Special thanks to Mark Mumford for taking the time to share his memories with the Jeff Lynne Song Database.

Tour Dates

This tour ran from February to October 1978. It started in Australia and New Zealand (February), Japan (February to March), Europe (April to May), UK (June), and USA and Canada (June to September).

A fan in Australia recalls that when the band came to Australia, they played a rehearsal gig at Erskineville Primary School in Erskineville, Sydney for the students, performing in a large, yellow dome tent. This fan recalls that this was as warm up for the Sydney concert, which would place it on February 3 or 4 of 1978.

Date

City, Country

Venue

Setlist[A-shows with spaceship set][B-shows without spaceship set]

Opening Act(s)

Comments

Pacific Tour

January 25 1978

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Neal Blaisdell Center

Australia and Japan show

Unknown

January 29 1978

Auckland, New Zealand

Western Springs

Australia and Japan show

Unknown

February 1 1978

Brisbane, Australia

Festival Hall

Australia and Japan show

Stars

February 2 1978

Brisbane, Australia

Festival Hall

Australia and Japan show

Stars

February 4 1978

Sydney, Australia

Randwick Racecourse

Australia and Japan show

Stars

February 7 1978

Melbourne, Australia

Sidney Myer Music Bowl

Australia and Japan show

Scandal (Australian band)

February 8 1978

Melbourne, Australia

Sidney Myer Music Bowl

Australia and Japan show

Scandal (Australian band)

February 9 1978

Melbourne, Australia

Sidney Myer Music Bowl

Australia and Japan show

Scandal (Australian band)

February 10 1978

Adelaide, Australia

Football Park

Australia and Japan show

Scandal (Australian band)

February 16, 1978

Perth, Australia

Perth Entertainment Centre

Australia and Japan show

Unknown

February 17, 1978

Perth, Australia

Perth Entertainment Centre

Australia and Japan show

Unknown

February 22 1978

Tokyo, Japan

Nippon Budokan

Australia and Japan show

-none-

February 23 1978

Osaka, Japan

Festival Hall

Australia and Japan show

-none-

February 24 1978

Osaka, Japan

Festival Hall

Australia and Japan show

-none-

February 25 1978

Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto Kaikan

Australia and Japan show

-none-

February 26 1978

Fukuoka, Japan

Kyuden Taiikukan

Australia and Japan show

-none-

February 28 1978

Nagoja, Japan

Nagoyashi Kokaido

Australia and Japan show

-none-

March 2 1978

Shizuoka, Japan

Sunpu Kaikan

Australia and Japan show

-none-

European Tour

April 22 1978

Stockholm, Sweden

Johanneshovs Isstadion

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

April 23 1978

Gφteborg, Sweden

Scandinavium

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

April 24 1978

Malmψ, Sweden

Malmψ Isstadion

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

April 25 1978

Oslo, Norway

Ekeberghallen

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

April 27 1978

Copenhagen, Denmark

Falkoner Theatre

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

April 29 1978

Kiel, Germany

Ostseehalle

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Unknown

April 30 1978

Dortmund, Germany

Halle 1 Dortmund

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

May 2 1978

Bremen, Germany

Stadthalle

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

May 3 1978

Hannover, Germany

Eilenriedehalle

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Unknown

May 4 1978

Hamburg, Germany

Ernst Merck Halle

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

May 6 1978

Ludwigshafen/Rhein, Germany

Friedrich-Ebert-Halle

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

May 7 1978

Ludwigshafen/Rhein, Germany

Friedrich-Ebert-Halle

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

May 8 1978

Kφln, Germany

Sporthalle

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

May 10 1978

Berlin, Germany

Deutschlandhalle

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

May 11 1978

Nόrnberg, Germany

Messehalle

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

May 12 1978

Munich, Germany

Olympiahalle

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

May 13 1978

Zόrich, Switzerland

Hallenstadion

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

May 15 1978

Paris, France

Pavillon de Paris

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Unknown

May 16 1978

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Rotterdam Ahoy

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Unknown

May 17 1978

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Rotterdam Ahoy

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Unknown

May 18 1978

Brussels, Belgium

Vorst Nationaal

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

U.K. Tour

June 2 1978

London, UK

Wembley Empire Pool

UK A show

Trickster

This was the first show performed with the spaceship stage. It was a charity show, performed before the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. And it was filmed, broadcast on TV, and released on video, laserdisc and DVD on several occasions.

June 6 1978

Stafford, UK

Bingley Hall

UK B show (same as UK A show but without the spaceship intro/outro)

Trickster

This performance wasn't originally scheduled as part of the tour, but was added as an award ceremony because the band won the Daily Mirror Rock and Pop Awards (which would eventually evolve into what is now known as the Brits). The award ceremony bit didn't happen for whatever reason but the gig remained.

June 9 1978

London, UK

Wembley Empire Pool

UK A show

Trickster

June 10 1978

London, UK

Wembley Empire Pool

UK A show

Trickster

June 11 1978

London, UK

Wembley Empire Pool

UK A show

Trickster

June 12 1978

London, UK

Wembley Empire Pool

UK A show

Trickster

June 14 1978

London, UK

Wembley Empire Pool

UK A show

Trickster

June 15 1978

London, UK

Wembley Empire Pool

UK A show

Trickster

June 16 1978

London, UK

Wembley Empire Pool

UK A show

Trickster

North American "The Big Night" Tour

June 30 1978

Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Omaha Civic Auditorium

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

July 1 1978

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Kiel Arena

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

July 2 1978

Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Kemper Arena

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

July 3 1978

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

Myriad Gardens

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

July 5 1978

Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Midsouth Coliseum

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

July 6 1978

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

The Omni Coliseum

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

July 8 1978

Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Birmingham - Jefferson Civic Center

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Unknown

July 9 1978

Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Rupp Arena

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

July 11 1978

Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

Greensboro Coliseum

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

July 12 1978

Roanoke, Virginia, USA

Civic Centre

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

July 15 1978

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Cleveland Municipal Stadium

USA and Canada A show

Trickster, Journey, Foreigner

This show as billed as "The World Series of Rock". The bands that day in order of appearance were Trickster, Journey, Foreigner, and Electric Light Orchestra. Reports are of an audience of 80,000 people in attendance.

Football star Trevor Francis of the Birmingham Blues (at the time) and Jeff Lynne's personal friend attended this show while standing at the mixing desk.

July 19 1978

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Canadian National Exhibition Stadium

USA and Canada A show

Trickster, Meatloaf

August 10 1978

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Chicago Stadium

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

During this show, one of Hugh's cello strings broke during the performance and Mik filled in with a short solo.

August 12 1978

Pontiac, Michigan, USA

The Pontiac Silverdome

USA and Canada A show

Trickster, Heart

August 13 1978

Pontiac, Michigan, USA

The Pontiac Silverdome

USA and Canada A show

Trickster, Heart

August 14 1978

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Market Square Arena

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

August 15 1978

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Milwaukee Arena

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

August 16 1978

Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Dane County Coliseum

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

August 17 1978

St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Civic Centre

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

August 19 1978

Denver, Colorado, USA

McNichols Sports Arena

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

August 23 1978

Oakland, California, USA

Oakland Coliseum

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

August 24 1978

Oakland, California, USA

Oakland Coliseum

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

August 26 1978

Anaheim, California, USA

Anaheim Stadium

USA and Canada A show

Trickster, Kingfish and Journey

This show started with a lot of theatrics. First, just before the start of the show, skywriters wrote "ELO - THE BIG NIGHT" across the sky for the audience to see. Tony Curtis came on stage to introduce the band, when he found himself in a Star Wars style laser battle with Stormtrooper-style stuntmen who supposedly parachuted in and fought a mock battle with the actor. The audience was then treated to a fireworks show before the spaceship finally opened and the show began.

August 29 1978

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Aladdin Theater for the Performing Arts

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Unknown

September 1 1978

Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Tarrant County Convention Center

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

September 2 1978

Shreveport, Louisiana, USA

Hirsch Memorial Coliseum

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Kingfish

The band acknowledged Mik Kaminski's 27th birthday at this concert with a bit of Happy Birthday To You during Rockaria!.

September 3 1978

Houston, Texas, USA

The Summit

USA and Canada A show

Kingfish

September 4 1978

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

LSU Assembly Center

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Kingfish and/or Trickster

Records show that there were 12,744 people attending this show.

September 5 1978

Biloxi, Mississippi, USA

Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center

USA and Canada A show

Kingfish

Records show that there were 13,525 people attending this show.

September 7 1978

Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

Civic Coliseum

USA and Canada A show

Kingfish

Records show that there were 8,725 people attending this show.

September 8 1978

Dayton, Ohio, USA

University of Dayton Arena

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Kingfish

September 9 1978

Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA

MTSU Murphy Center

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Kingfish

Records show that there were 9,987 people attending this show.

September 11 1978

Buffalo, New York, USA

Buffalo Memorial Auditorium

USA and Canada A show

Kingfish

September 12 1978

New Haven, Connecticut, USA

New Haven Veterans' Coliseum

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Kingfish

September 14 1978

New York City, New York, USA

Madison Square Garden

USA and Canada A show

Kingfish

September 15 1978

New York City, New York, USA

Madison Square Garden

USA and Canada A show

Kingfish

September 18 1978

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

The Spectrum

USA and Canada A show

Kingfish

September 19 1978

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

The Spectrum

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

September 22 1978

Hampton, Virginia, USA

Hampton Coliseum

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

September 23 1978

Largo, Maryland, USA

Capital Centre

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

September 25 1978

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Civic Arena

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

September 27 1978

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Boston Garden

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

September 28 1978

Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Providence Civic Center

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Trickster

September 29 1978

Portland, Maine, USA

Cumberland County Civic Center

Europe, USA and Canada B show

Kingfish

As this was the last show on this tour, the road crew all came on stage during Roll Over Beethoven, many wearing masks and strange clothing.

September 30 1978

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Montreal Forum

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

This show was cancelled because of a tax disagreement between the promoters and the Canadian or Montreal government.

October 1 1978

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Montreal Forum

USA and Canada A show

Trickster

This show was cancelled because of a tax disagreement between the promoters and the Canadian or Montreal government.

The above table attempts to show the setlist used for each performance with the following color coding:

DARK BLUEUnknown

BRIGHT BLUEAustralia and Japan show

DARK GRAYUK A show (with spaceship)

REDUSA and Canada A show (with spaceship)

GREENEurope, USA and Canada B show

Setlist

Wild West Hero single releaseThese are the setlists during the tour. There were some minor changes along each leg of the tour, in response to the release of singles during the tour or other unknown reasons. In particular, Fire On High and the Eldorado Overture are only known to have played at the Australia and Japan shows. Wild West Hero was released as a single in the UK, to coincide with the concerts there. Wild West Hero was added to the UK shows only, where it either replaced Strange Magic in the setlist or it was played just before or after it, although one fan seems to recall hearing Wild West Hero performed at an Australia show as well which may very well have happened as one of the Wild West Hero music videos was filmed in Australia during this tour. It's not clear if Strange Magic was played at all UK shows. This change may have been done at some Europe shows, but that remains uncertain. Also, from analyzing various bootlegged concerts, it appears that Ma-Ma-Ma Belle, Livin' Thing and Do Ya were often switched in the order they were played, and the order that Mr. Blue Sky, Sweet Talkin' Woman and Evil Woman was often switched around.

One fan recalls that Jungle was played at a the June 6, Bingley Hall show in the UK, but that remains unconfirmed. If true, it would be the only known live performance of the song. A review in The Shreveport Times indicates that the band performed Starlight at the September 2 Hirsch Memorial Coliseum concert, however, this is thought to simply be an error.

Song Title

Australia and Japan show

UK A show(with the spaceship set)

UK B show(without the spaceship set)

USA and Canada A show(with the spaceship set)

Europe, USA and Canada B show(without the spaceship set)

Arrangement

Song comments

Introduction Theme

-

YES

-

YES

-

N/A

This song, a recording only, was only used at the concerts that used the spaceship set. It is an excerpt from a 1973 recording of the London Symphony Orchestra as conducted by Andrι Previn. The performance is of Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20-- specifically, it excerpts the end of the first movement called Lacrymosa (Andante ben misurato). Layered over this music is synthesized keyboard to simulate the sounds of the spaceship landing and opening.

Fire On High

YES

-

-

-

-

Face The Music LP version

This song was performed at the Australia and Japan concerts only. The intro was played via tape, but the rest of the song was performed live.

Standin' In The Rain

-

YES

YES

YES

YES

Out Of The Blue LP version, except it cuts rain/keyboard intro, starting at the cymbal crash and it ends early, cutting the "big wheels" vocorder part

This song was performed at all concerts except Australia and Japan

Night In The City

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Out Of The Blue LP version, except it cuts the "I'll get you, yes, I'm gonna get you" vocal part and has a non-fading ending

Turn To Stone

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Out Of The Blue LP version

Eldorado Overture

YES

-

-

-

-

Eldorado LP version

This song was performed at the Australia and Japan concerts only. Much of this track was played with tapes, but once the big orchestra starts the band joins in, including guitars, drums and strings.

Can't Get It Out Of My Head

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Eldorado LP version

Hugh's Cello Solo / Flight Of The Bumblebee

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

N/A

Tightrope

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

A New World Record LP version

Telephone Line

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

A New World Record LP version, except it cuts the telephone tone intro and the last two choruses and it adds a non-fading ending

Rockaria!

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

A New World Record LP version, except that Kelly Groucutt sings the opera parts and the second and fourth verses

Mik's Violin Solo / In The Hall Of The Mountain King / Hungarian Dance No. 5

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

N/A

Wild West Hero

-

YES

YES

-

-

Out Of The Blue LP version, but with several edits; the piano intro, second chorus, second vocal bridge ("ride the range...), and one of the final repeated "oh I wish I was a wild west hero" lines are cut; finally, the first vocal bridge is sung in acapella

This song was performed only at the UK shows. It may have been at the European shows as well, but that remains uncertain.

Strange Magic

YES

-

-

YES

YES

The Strange Magic arrangement is quite different from the Face The Music arrangment; all the slide guitar parts are played on keyboards; the orchestral intro is cut; the "it's magic" backing vocals are cut from the song's bridge; the third verse and third, fourth and fifth choruses are cut; and the sixth and final chorus does not fade, but merges into Showdown. Perhaps most significant is that Bev Bevan steps from behind the drums and stands at the front of the stage playing only a tambourine a singing backing vocals.

This song may not have been performed at all the UK and European shows, having been replaced by Wild West Hero, but that remains unclear.

Showdown

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Standard single version, except the cello intro, the third and fourth verses, and the second chorus are cut. Also, there is added piano over the song's instrumental bridge and the song does not fade but includes a different 20 second instrumental jam to end the song.

Sweet Talkin' Woman

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Out Of The Blue LP version, except a non-fading ending

Evil Woman

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Face The Music album version, except without the orchestral intro and a non-fading ending

Mr. Blue Sky

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Out Of The Blue LP version, except it starts just after the "forcast calls for blue skies" intro and it cuts completely the orchestra coda ending

Do Ya

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

A New World Record LP version, except it adds four extra guitar riffs at the beginning and the bridge and it cuts the last verse; the song is played with a very hard sounding rock 'n' roll guitar

Livin' Thing

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

A New World Record LP version, except it adds an extended 20 second instrumental bit after the last chorus

Ma-Ma-Ma Belle

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

On The Third Day album version, but with a 30 second drum intro used to get the audience worked up and a nearly one minute and 20 second jam session at the songs end. Also, Kelly Groucutt sings the second verse and on the choruses, Kelly and Jeff trade lines with Kelly singing the "you gotta ma-ma-ma belle" parts and Jeff singing the "or I will get you" (and similar) lines.

Roll Over Beethoven

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Generally the ELO 2 UK album version but without the mellotron intro and the second half of Beethoven's Fifth symphony cut from the intro. Also, Kelly sings the first chorus and the instrumental jam throughout most of the middle of the song is very differently arranged.

Outroduction Theme

-

YES

-

YES

-

N/A

This song, a recording only, was only used at the concerts that used the spaceship set. Like the introduction, it excerpts the Andrι Previn conducted performance of Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20, excerpting the same portion of the Lacrymosa (Andante ben misurato) movement and layering synthesized keyboard to simulate the sounds of the spaceship launching.

Releases

Only one performance from this tour has seen official release, which is the June 2, 1978 Wembley Empire Pool (now called the Wembley Arena) performance in London, England. It was a spaceship concert that included an introduction by actor Tony Curtis and was performed before the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester as part of a charity event. The performance was videotaped and prepared for TV broadcast, with the audio for this concert subsequently being mixed with the album recordings and all of this was mixed down to mono only for TV. This mixing in of the album recordings further exacerbated the incorrect public perception that ELO only performed to tapes in concert. This was broadcast on British television later in 1978 and in the USA and other countries shortly thereafter. It was only meant to be broadcast on TV and the thought of putting it on videotape for release (and better quality sound) was never considered at the time.

In the 1980s, this TV broadcast was released in both the USA and UK on videotape (VHS and Beta) with no changes from the mono mix prepared for 1970s TV broadcast. In the USA, it was also released on CED laserdisc. In the 2000s, it was released on video and DVD again with all with the bonus footage of the band meeting the Duke and Duchess Gloucester after the show and combined with the Discovery videos. In 1998, the audio track was issued in the UK on the Eagle CD, Live At Wembley '78. Unfortunately all of these releases are of the inferior original mono mix prepared for 1970s TV broadcast.

Fortunately, in March 2005, the audio from the performance was finally remastered by Roger Lomas and released on a UK DVD to accompany the original video footage in March of 2006. This sound is a vast improvement, mixed to both stereo and 5.1 audio, and clearly shows that the band was not miming on stage to prerecorded music. The backing tapes can be heard very clearly on Standin' In The Rain and occasionally on other songs that used them, but the band is not miming to them.

Despite several releases of this performance on both video and audio formats, the entire performance has not seen release. Missing songs include Can't Get It Out Of My Head, Hugh's Cello Solo, Mik's Violin Solo, Strange Magic, Evil Woman and Ma-Ma-Ma Belle. Given the fantastic laser light show during Hugh McDowell's cello solo, it's surprising that this performance was not part of the TV broadcast and has never made it to video.

No other official releases of performances from this tour are currently available.

Several shows of this concert tour have been bootlegged. They include:

Date

Location

Source

Quality

Comments

February 22, 1978

Tokyo, Japan

Audience

Good

Bootlegs of this concert are missing the songs Mr. Blue Sky, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and Roll Over Beethoven.

February 23, 1978

Osaka, Japan

Audience

Good

May 8, 1978

Cologne, Germany

Audience

Good

August 29, 1978

Las Vegas, USA

Audience

Fair

Bootlegs of this concert are missing the songs Hugh's Cello Solo / Flight Of The Bumblebee, Mik's Solo / In The Hall Of The Mountain King / Hungarian Dance No. 5, Livin' Thing, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and Roll Over Beethoven.

Note that the Orchestral Encounters Of The Electric Kind bootleg LP incorrectly shows this concert as being performed on August 22. The true date of this performance was August 29.

September 11, 1978

Buffalo, USA

Audience

Fair

September 14, 1978

New York City, USA

Unknown

Unknown

September 19, 1978

Philadelphia, USA

Audience

Fair

Only the songs Livin' Thing, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and Roll Over Beethoven are known to have been booted from this performance.

Early release information for ELO's 1981 Time album was that it was going to be a double album release with the first disc being the studio Time album and the second disc being a live album with audio taken from an Out Of The Blue concert performance. This idea was, of course, dropped with the eventual release of the single album.

Opening Acts

It is known that a Jet Records signed band called Trickster (featuring Phil Bates, who eventually joined Electric Light Orchestra Part II in the 1990s) was the opening act for many of the shows. During some of the shows, a band called Kingfish opened instead. At the Cleveland show, billed as the "The World Series of Rock II", Trickster, Journey and Foreigner all opened the show and at the Anaheim, California show, Trickster, Kingfish and Journey opened the show. At at least one show in Canada, Meatloaf joined as an opener and for two shows in Michigan, Heart opened.It's unclear at this time how many shows Trickster opened, but they were on most (if not all) of the European and American parts of the tour except where Kingfish appeared alone. If anyone reading this has this information, please contact the webmaster at the email address supplied below.

It is fairly certain that there was no opening band for the Japan shows.

Promotions

At the August 26, 1978 Anaheim show, there was a special intro to the show. The opening bands performed their sets while the spaceship stage was hidden behind curtains. After this, a laser light show with stunt men performed in the lighting rig, including shooting lasers at each other using an aparatus on their arms. This was soon followed a simulated landing of the spaceship where a lighted mockup of the spaceship stage was flown in from the distance via helicopter. The spaceship mockup landed behind the actual spaceship stage (and the curtain), followed by a dropping of the curtains, the opening of the stage and the start of the show. It was reported at the time that many Los Angeles residents saw the lighted spaceship and thought they were seeing a real UFO!

Special June 2, 1978 UK program - Front cover / All pages / Back cover

Images kindly provided by Alex Ivanov

UK Tour program (Version #1) - Front cover / All pages / Back cover

UK Tour program (Version #2) - Front cover / All pages / Back cover

Images kindly provided by Alex Ivanov

UK Tour program (Version #3) - Front cover / All pages / Back cover

Images kindly provided by Alex Ivanov

USA Tour program - Front cover / All pages / Back cover

No other photos from this tour are currently available. If you have any to share, please contact the email address at the bottom of this page.

Fan Comments

Enter comments only about this tour. (Inappropriate comments will be removed.)

hello I remember your visit to Sydney, i was 8 years of age and they performed a warm up gig for my school! we were so excited. I have loved the bands music ever since.

Loved reading this page -- Great job! I was at the Pontiac Silverdome show and to my ears, they did lip sync to at least a couple of tunes, Turned to Stone and Sweet Talking Woman I believe. I realized this at the time, long before I had heard of the Brass Ring lawsuit. I have no problem with tape assist at concerts, but this seemed extreme -- and I had seen them a few years before and they were mostly live (and fantastic I might add). That said, it's a part of rock history and I'll always love Jeff Lynne. Hoping to see them at MSG in a couple weeks. Cheers!

Madison Sq Garden show absolutely had the building concrete shaking. Went w\my high school sweetheart. The spaceship, then Standing in the Rain, then Eldorado... Oh My, getting goosebumps tying this. What a night, THE BEST CONCERT I EVER SAW.

I beleve Jeff Lynne announced that this was the first concert ever using wireless pickups. The cellos (guys w\ the big fiddles)☺ running around the stage was awesome to see. I'm 60 now & I'll remember this always!-Jimmy

After reading this whole thing, lit looks like I made a mistake. It looks like they were playing every song. There were backing tapes which I heard on youtube, apparently, I was the one that was fooled about those reports and recordings I've heard from that TV show.-Anonymous

I saw the show at the Silverdome. One of the best shows I've ever seen. As the article above says, by this time, it was highly rumored that this whole show was mimed. I had heard that some of the songs were, but less than half. The show was so great I wish I had never heard about it and if that information hadn't been leaked, no one would have even suspected. Unfortunately, that information really hurt ticket sales 3 years later at Joe Louis Arena.

The Pontiac Silverdome held 80,000 people. But because of acoustic problems with some shows, only half of the arena was used with an acoustical curtain. I thought the sound was great.-Anonymous

I just want to say it was a blast from the past, reading your description of the 1978 tour "Out of the Blue". I was 17 at the time, and was lucky enough to attend the show at Madison Square Garden. It was AWESOME, and reading your description of what it took to put on such a show, well, I had no idea! All I can say is that they were one of my favorite groups at the time (and still are) and I remember that show like it was yesterday. I recently watched Jeff Lynn's tour in 2014 on MTV, and I kept telling my husband how cool the tour was when I saw it back then... that's what inspired him to find your website for me.

Thanks so much for taking the time to put together such a detailed account of this tour. You rock!-Stephanie

Advertisement for July 15, 1978 show...Cleveland,Ohio "World Series of Rock Game 2" heard on radio...just had to go...and a car full of 5 people went,b4 loading up the car,they had just awoken me from a great nap,and after waiting in the traffic line for what seemes like hours,we had finally made it approx. 1/2 the way to Cleveland Stadium from Akron Ohio,at which time,i had an rude awakening. I had forgotten my eyeglasses at the house,at which time my sister in law said,you can use these binoculars(mind you,she was in lust...er love...with Journey's lead singer Steve Perry's "butt")... after realizing this in thought,i vocalized it. She again verbalized in defense..."Noo..oh,you can use the binoculars. I said ok to allow change in the tension in the air,and i started to sing with the radio mixing the 3 opening acts songs... Trixter,Journey and Foreigner... And of course, Electric Light Orchestra music to top of the song sets... The Concert WAS the BEST show i had ever seen in my Concert Going history... I have many venues attended,Including sister in law's Binocular "Butt" Steve Perry and Journey 11 Times,and "No" I Did not get the Vision Through "Those Lenses" ... "Butt" Still The Best Show for a 17yo. That Will Echo in my Head Forever!Signed,Ohio_Drew@hotmail.com

"Don't Leave God Out Of The Equation"

I was 6 years old and staying with my cousin in Sunnyvale CA during the two shows at the Oakland Coliseum. The UFO prop was probably being stored at the nearby Moffet Field naval base because we saw a UFO that night hover over my cousin's apartment complex. We were looking out of a second story window, and therefore could not see the helicopter that was carrying it, because it was so close to the window. We never heard the rotors on the helicopter and thought the flying object was other-worldly for many years. I will never forget that night. The SJ Mercury News printed an editorial about the incident the next day.-Anonymous

Hi there. I saw E.L.O on the Melbourne Australia leg of the 1978 tour.

Playing in the wonderfully situated Sidney Myer Music Bowl (an outdoor amphitheater).. @ 17 y/old & Having no ticket I stood outside of the wire fence and listened all night.

Watched the green LASERS fly out from the stage overhead into the pitch darkness.

I have felt guilty that I saw this show for free, so I would like to offer the $10 odd dollars that it would have cost I guess. unsure what the exchange rate would be these-days.-Anonymous

Trixter opened both shows in Atlanta at the Omni.-Anonymous

Was it Trickster or Kingfish opening at Madison Square Garden?-Anonymous

I went to the August 12, 1978 Pontiac Silverdome concert mainly to see HEART. I was treated to the best overall concert that I have ever seen with the brilliant show put on by ELO. The Silverdome was cut in half by a huge blue curtain that was made especially for this concert(to hide the crane that lifted the lid of the spaceship and to provide a blue sky background). I remember the lasers bouncing off of the metallic instruments and off of the ceiling of the dome of the arena. It was magical.-Anonymous

My first concert ever August 16th, 1978 in Madison Wisconsin. ELO was awesome! Loved seeing the spaceship stage. Such a great night!-Anonymous

I was lucky enough to be backstage at the Anaheim show, as Peter Martens guest. (Guitar Tech).. What a show! After the show, he took me into the tent and introduced me to Tony Curtis. and what a legend, at that time. During the show, I was quite young, and trying out my first shots of tequila. I found them a little strong to swallow. So I was on a mission to find a beer back. I wondered up to a trailer, and asked this guy if he had a beer. He offered to trade me a beer for my pants! I was SO naοve. I refused, and blew him off. Probably called him a perv. Found out late it was Steve Perry of Journey. Lol.... And he actually followed me outta his trailer and gave me the beer anyway. I thought that was fairly decent of him.-Anonymous

Yes i went to this concert and have the program with the front cover/all pages/back cover. The date was on August 26,1978 the day after my birthday. My brother pay for my ticket it was a birth gift.-Connie Fross

I was at the August 29th show at Anaheim Stadium. My friend Vincie had an extra ticket. My first concert  I was 15. I didnt know anything. We got to the stadium early, at 7 AM, and I had been up late after seeing Rocky Horror in Hermosa too  so on 2 hours of sleep I arrived at a huge parking lot and got in line to be searched. This is 38 years ago and the memories are like last week. We ran in and sat on third base on the grass. I thought it was so cool that music was playing all day long from the concert speakers  people near me were building human pyramids. And tossing some poor girl up into the air via a blanket  the blanket split and she hit the ground very hard. And some guy, kind of like a court jester type, flitting about all day long in increasing states of wastedness. Around noon a food fight broke out with food and drink being thrown everywhere  arching thru the sky. It was very strange and wonderful for me to spend an entire morning, day, and evening in one place like that. I know it was Trixster and Kingfish that played first, thanks to this web page. And I so do remember Journey playing 4? songs. To this day I still feel special to have seen them so early like that. I know they did Lights and Wheel in the Sky. And then it got dark and Tony Curtis came out  and that was a huge treat for me. Some people scratched their heads as to who and why? But I thought it cool  and he had on a tux  added elegance, like a conductor. And then the loudest thing I had ever heard happened  a spaceship flew over us! Mindblowing. Pretty far out for 1978. The concert and ELO were absolutely thrilling. Some of my favorite music ever. At one point I went and sat under the first level and watched it bounce terrifyingly up and down 15 feet as the people above jumped up and down. It did not seem safe. And then ELO did Roll Over Beethoven and the concert was over, and the paramedics wheeled the very wasted court jester dude out on a stretcher as he was convulsing and frothing - I learned a lot that day. If I had a time travel machine I would go back to that concert first thing. Thank you for this Web page!-Stephen Jendro

Congratulations on this detailed work! I was on the Cologne Show on 8th of May and the opener was definitely Trickster!-Anonymous

Robert, Congratulations for a stunning site. Do you know if the Spaceship or parts of it survive? If so, where are they?(Joe from Brixham South Devon) UK

Editor's Note: The spaceship was apparently taken to a dump somewhere in the northeast United States and destroyed after the tour was over.-Anonymous

GREAT PAGE,I WAS AT THE ANAHEIM,CALIF SHOW in 1978...I believe Montrose was on the bill(without a bass player,keyboards played the basslines..)F.Y.I. :)-Anonymous

ELO's September 22, 1978 show in the Hampton Coliseum was my very first concert. I was 14 at the time (now 50) and living in Manteo, NC (the Outer Banks or OBX). We drove from Manteo to Hampton, a trip of over two hours at the time. Along with two of my high school friends, also in attendance were my mother and GRANDMOTHER. I'd gotten the tickets via mail order and paid either $7.50 each or $8.50 each.

I believe this show is what set me up for eternity with a burning need to NOT be late for things as we didn't get to the Coliseum until well after the opening band, Trickster, had begun performing. As it was my first show, I was mesmerized by pretty much everything going on. It was my first time seeing lasers in person. The green beams shot out from the stage and projected spinning designs on the ceiling of the Hampton Coliseum.

This many years removed, I don't recall a lot of specifics, but I remember that it made me an ELO fan for life and definitely a fan of live shows (from bars to large clubs to football stadiums). I followed up ELO with a KISS show (the "Dynasty" tour) in July of the next year, also in Hampton, VA.-Phil Bridges (Raleigh, NC)

I was at the show at Madison Square Garden in September 1978. I remember we sat on the floor maybe the third row. The effects were great, the music was fantastic. We were so close we felt the coldness of the fog machine. What a night. Take me back!

I was at the Memphis Concert as well. It was suppose to have been on the 3rd of July but was postponed to the 4th as the City's Fire and Police Departments were on strick and the city was under a dusk till dawn curfew with the National Guard patrolling the streets. (The band's equipment trucks were brought in under guard the night before the show by the National Guard.) The curfew was lifted the morning of the show and it was on. Sold out and crazy. Being the 4th there were fireworks and bottle rockets going of every where. Once again the police were still on stike so enforcement was very little to none in the arena. At one point before ELO took the stage their tour manage came on stage and threatneed to call the show if the audience did not stop throwing firework. And man pot was being smoked and handed around all over the place. It was almost chaos until the band came on stage and then all eyes were on the spaceship and its crew of ELOers. Wonderful memory from the my teens and 1978.-Anonymous

i remember when this tour was occurring. critics were hostile to it, finding it pretentious and overblown. most of the time the "saucer" effects didn't work correctly. the whole effect came off making the band look ridiculous. i thought, "what an idiotic waste of money." (stripped down punk and early alternative rock bands were all the range in "hip" circles at the time.) in all likelihood, the "out of the blue" tour ended up costing don arden and the electric light orchestra a great deal of money. it's a shame, too, since there were some good songs on that album. elo was one of my favorite groups back then, but the details of this tour made the band seem absurd and i ended up both pitying the band and feeling a degree of contempt toward them. the electric light orchestra seemed to embody everything that the punk kids (with whom i identified, to an extent) were rebelling against in the late seventies.-Anonymous

I was a stage crew member at the Anaheim Stadium show ans remember it like it was yesterday. I have my pass from the show that listed me as part of the "ground crew" and a pin of the ELO logo I got from the band. I worked for the local union at the time and did everything from moving sound to pulling the hoses thru the top of the saucer after it had been lowered just prior to the show. To many details to possibly mention but after a 15 year career in the sound business this show remains the most impressive on I have ever seen or been apart of. I'd be happy to forward scans of the pass and pin if yo would like.-Anonymous

I saw the July 4, 1978 concert in Memphis. Wow - I was so impressed! The spaceship, the impressive sounds of ELO. One of the best concerts ever!!!-Anonymous

My first concert ever, July 2nd in Kansas City. The show was absolutely amazing and I could not have asked for a better first concert experience. I was 13 at the time. I loved Trickster's opening set enough that I bought their album. I still like listening to "Goodbye 65" and "Your Money or Your Life" from time to time.

I so wanted to be Jeff Lynne when I grew up. I actually did go on to a 9 year stint as a working musician. The bug first really bit me when I would sit in my room singing and playing to Face the Music, A New World Record and Out of the Blue. Thanks for the memories.-Jim

Was my very first concert.September 5th.Biloxi Ms.-Anonymous

I was 9 years when my father too me to see this in Providence. He was dissapointed that we did not get to see the "A" show. I'll still listen to the music, but I am always going to remember how we got a second rate show. Not all of the songs were played that were listed. It's still easier to sit in my living room and listening/watching concerts in my theater instead of paying crazy prices.-Anonymous

What a great site! Last night on UK tv BBC4 had a Jeff Lynne special that included the Wembley show. I went to the last night of their record breaking run they played there, and so many memories of my first ever concert came flooding back. I just had to know more about it and found this wonderful site that more than satisfied my geek-like thirst for facts.

I often wondered what songs were missing from the Wembley video as I could remember them singing many more, and Hugh and Mik's outstanding solos. Well now this geek is satisfied.

I still have my ticket and programme, and if I can scan them I will send them along.

I remember just how loud they were.

The whole stage show was amazing, something that has never been equalled by any band I have seen since, and I have seen loads.

I managed to catch ELO part II/ Orkestra a couple of times in recent years and although they were far removed from that epic line up I first witnessed I give all credit to the late great Kelly Groucutt.

So its time to revisit ELO's catalogue on my Ipod.

My regards to all fellow ELO fans, especially those that have shared there memories here.-Graham Chuck, Devon.

I was 13yrs old at the CNE, standing in the front watching the spaceship open! The light show was one of the best at the time and still hard to beat!

It was a great time and a memory I will never forget! It was a great summer of concerts. July 19th 1978 show CNE, must have been 50K people at this show all cramped up close to watch the spaceship open. Awesome!-Anonymous

I was at the September 29th Portland Maine show. This was a B stage show there was no spaceship so it is listed incorrectly as an 'A' show on the tour section. The band knew it was the last show of the tour and as is usually the case on such shows the road crew joined the band onstage during the finale 'roll over beethoven' many wearing masks and various strange clothing.-Anonymous

There are or NEVER WILL BE enough greatest words for the 'GREATEST BAND'in the whole world!!!!!! Hello all you Wild west heros like me out there and its really great to know I,have a extended ELO world family out there even if ive never met any of you.Just like to share first off of course I, am a DIE HARD ELO family member like alot of you all over the globe.i am 48 yrs old now and have had my heavenly eternal non stopping taste of this heaven sent band backing up to 1978 here where i still reside.Seen this phenominal group on my older brothers birthday which was on ELO'S magical apperence August 29th 1978 at the Alladin theatre for the performing arts here in Las vegas Nevada.Truly from the bottom of my heart the very best show and music I,have ever witnessed in a lifetime!!! And it was HEAVEN!-Anonymous

I attended the show in Pontiac, Michigan. Sadly, someone was smoking, well... something other than cigarettes right in the row front of me. The Silverdome - being an air-supported roof stadium - was not known for it's good ventilation.

Needless to say, I barely remember the concert, but I do remember the stage (a little). Wish I could remember more.-Anonymous

I attended the September 18, 1978 show at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Grateful Dead offshoot King Fish was the opening act, but Trickster opened the following evening on September 19th.-Jim Mullen

I guess I was wrong about "Fire on High" being the intro song at the Denver show in my previous post, but for some reason it sticks in my mind that it was; maybe because it was on TV so muchon every sports show at the time. It was the "Sirius" of the seventies!-Anonymous

I went to the August 19th '78 show at McNichols Sports Arena, affectionally known to us in Denver CO as "Big Mac", both because of the obvious name and it's somewhat hamburger shape. ELO was absolutely my favorite band at the time and the show did not disappoint; it was AWESOME! I was dead center to the stage, a bit of a ways back, perfect seats. The drama of the prelude with the awesome light show and the Space Stage glowing and flashing set me on the edge of my seat, and then the opening song (I believe it was Fire on High) and then the "lid" rose and it just pulled you into the show and thereafter the band just totally ROCKED! I thought the sound seemed flawless, the musicianship was perfect and super close to the studio versions (in some aspects maybe even better), the light show stunning and spectacular. I saw perhaps eighty rock concerts between '77 and '85, and that ELO concert was in the top 3 for me. I remember it like it was yesterday, and even to this day I still love ELO; Face the Music, Out of the Blue, and New World Record are all underrated classics that deserve a lot more cred than they have recieved through the years. ELO was massively popular where I lived at that time, and their music holds up as well as anything put out by other bands of the seventies as well as the eighties! I'll be on my deathbed and I'll still be listening to ELO, decades from now.-Anonymous

My sister and I went to the 9th of February show at the Myer Music Bowl Melbourne, was a warm night.My sister "shouted me" for my 18th birthday, the support act for this night was Scandal, who were pretty ordinary by comparision. ELO opened with Fire on High, then Turn to stone, from memory they did 2 encores. I was talking to Bev Bevan by email recently ,and he remembers the concerts at the Music bowl well, the laser light show was awesome there ,especially when Mik Kaminski did the violin solo and they shone a laser beam onto a mirrorball, you could feel your skin tingling, was one of the most memorable concerts i've ever been to!!!.Wes, Melbourne, Australia.-Anonymous

I attended the concert in Oakland. The space ship stage was cool. The opening act sucked. As I recall, I thought they were called STAR BABY.-F. Baugher

I remember this tour when it was at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. It was one of the first "flown" sound systems with the speakers in large metal cages which were hoisted up so there were no stacks blocking anyone's view. They had to invent new technology to synchronize the numerous hoists lifting the top of the spaceship. If one had listed a little faster then the other, the whole rig would have shifted and possibly broken, risking life and limb of everyone on stage. Other things that stick in my mind was that the chief sound engineer was nicknamed "Doc Double" and he was wearing a t-shirt that said "Back To Mono".-Anonymous

[On] September 7, 1978 ELO scheduled a concert stop in Knoxville Tennessee and I was thrilled. My little brother was as rabid an ELO fan as I was by that time because I had the albums playing constantly (and so did he). I bought tickets and didn't tell him about it. It was a surprise. The day of the concert I whipped out my tickets and handed one to him. He couldn't believe he was going to a "ROCK CONCERT!!!", his first one and to see ELO to boot. I was pretty excited myself. That wasn't the only surprise that day.

Throughout high school I worked off and on as an amplifier and organ repairman at Rose Music Company in Alcoa. My dad Paul Michael was the chief technical guy and could fix anything (and still is). I got a call around noon the day of the show asking if I could go look at a Hammond B3 organ at the Coliseum. Some band that was playing tonight was having problems with it. I almost fainted....but grabbed my tools and headed over there. They gave me a contact name to get me in (I don't remember who).

When I showed up the place was literally buzzing with excitement and construction. The Spaceship was HUGE and I couldn't believe I was going to be on stage in a few minutes. Turns out the organ belonged to the opening act (my brother says it was Trickster) and they said it had NOT been dropped coming off the truck. Off we went into the bowels of the Coliseum looking for the keyboard player. My escort didn't know where he was so we went door to door looking. After opening countless doors with no luck I suddenly found myself in a room with Bev and Mick and maybe the Cello guys. I was in shock.

Before I could really look or react to see if Jeff was there, say HI, or ANYTHING we were out and back down the hall and finally found the keyboard guy for Trickster. He told me they dropped it coming off the truck and declined to accompany us back to the stage. He said "Just fix it" and wasn't particularly friendly. Back to the stage (the Spaceship looked HUGERIFFIC than before) and I was assigned another escort who helped me up a ladder over the high lip of the stage. Again I was in shock at all that was around me. The escort took me to the Hammond which was obviously not going to work (cracks in the wood case, motor not turning). He told me NOT to wander around. I looked at the innerds and tried to fix it anyway. Those particular organs have a "scanner" with very delicate moving parts. No scanner, no music. I gave them the bad news and left. They called back and asked for the chief technician which was my Dad. He went out later just before showtime and gave them the same prognosis. They weren't happy. Moral of that story is you don't drop expensive delicate stuff.

That evening the concert was as thrilling as you could expect. Trickster was awful and we couldn't wait for them to be gone. I think they played 10 or 20 encores or so it seemed. I'm sure it was bad because the organ wasn't working....... ELO came out with the spaceship opening and all the lasers firing. It was the most amazing thing I had ever witnessed in person. My brother mostly sat in awe with his mouth open (ok I did too) or we sang along. The show was just as most of you have described. It did seem like the show went on for a long while. My memory only has images and feelings of the show but it was fantastic and remains the most amazing show I have ever seen.-John Michael

Looking at your web page about "The Big Night" brought back memories. I worked as an IATSE stagehand for the Anaheim California show. I was 18 and it was only the third show I had done. It was, by far, the biggest show I had ever worked on, before or since. I arrived at Anaheim Stadium at 8AM on Thursday. We worked until midnight getting the scaffolding put together. We built 2 60' high speaker towers and the stage itself. The towers were too high for a forklift to get the speakers up so each tower had a chain hoist elevator. If memory serves me, there were 13 or 14 trucks with the gear. I remember a manager (stage manager?) yelling at everyone and every other word was "fookin". The power requirements for the show were so great (I remember someone telling me at the time that the sound system alone was over 100,000 watts per side. I don't if that was true but I wouldn't be surprised.) that the stadium couldn't provide enough juice. ELO brought at least 2 large generators on trailers to augment power.

We were back at 8AM on Friday and, among other things I stacked speakers on the towers. I was also part of the laser crew and got to go up on the roof of the stadium and place mirrors to reflect the light around the stadium. We were about 120' up with no safety rails. The stadium still had an open end then and placing the mirror at the point of the open end was scary. The mirrors had C-clamps on the back and we attached them to existing pipe stubs around the leading edge of the roof. They did a fly-by with the helicopter that day and I was uncomfortably aware that the roof moves in the wind. We worked until midnight. We were back at 8AM on Saturday to finish everything. I worked until they did sound checks and they gave us back stage passes and food. At the opening of the show the upper part of the spaceship which housed the lights was flown up high and a scrim covered the face of it so it looked like a standard lighting rig. I got to stand between the stage and the crowd barrier during Journey's opening act. They almost stole the show. A high school buddy of mine came up to the barrier to say hi and ask how the hell I was so lucky to get in on this! Very cool! When they were done we closed a curtain across the entire stage and took down Journey's instruments and equipment. Then we set up ELO's gear and set up the drums on an elevator. The elevators were then lowered back down and the top half of the spaceship was lowered. I was backstage for most of the show but I remember huge rear projector screens behind the stage showing the audience a closer look at the band.

When the show was over we didn't waste any time and immediately got on stage to take down the band gear, amps, etc. We worked through the night and were finally allowed to leave at around 10AM. There were still speakers to get down and all the scaffolding to disassemble so they brought in a fresh crew. I worked 56 hours in 3 days and made a small fortune (well it was to me). By way of comparison, the amphitheater shows I did later, including acts a big as Michael Jackson, never took more than a day to put up and a few hours to take down. I'll never forget "The Big Night". For and 18 year old kid it was awesome!. Actually I think we still said "bitchin'" then.-Grant Richards

I and 5 other friends attended the Out Of the Blue tour show at Football Park, Adelaide. The support act was a band called Scandal, who played their recent hit in their set, a cover of 'How Long' by Ace. This band faded into obscurity immediately after the tour - the tour was certainly the biggest event in Scandals' existence.

At the start of the show, which was delayed slightly, the lasers came on. Wow (totally awesome), and then it just got better - it rained !! It's the only show I've ever been to that improved because of the rain. Every time a laser hit a rain drop, it was just magic ! The light rain faded after a short while, and the concert continued in lovely mild dryness.

No rock show I've seen since has ever been able to come close to the sheer beauty of that light show!-Alex Groenen

The only opening act for the August 14th show in '78 (Indianapolis IN, Market Square Arena ) on the 'Out of the Blue' tour was Trickster. Their set was plagued by technical problems, specifically the lead singers' guitar amp kept shorting out, finally resulting in a roadie finally replacing the guitar cable to produce a clean signal which produced the largest applause from the crowd the band got! ELO was superb (my first concert), great lighting and sound, although I will say my best friend and I were disturbed by the obvious use of backing tapes. Nonetheless, a great show and memory.-Michael Petrich

I was at the Western Springs, Auckland gig at the start of this tour. My parents bought tickets for myself and my two brothers, dropped us off at the Venue before and picked us up after the show...the funny thing was (and I'm still convinced of this) they thought they'd bought tickets for us to see a regular Orchestra. Needless to say the show (our first ever major outdoor stadium rock show) was an amazing experience. Along with the other 30,000 in attendance we marvelled at the lasers as they shot into the audience and created images on the tall pine trees at the back of the stadium. Western Springs is actually a speedway stadium which was used for many years as a summer rock stadium and we subsequently saw many major acts perform there (Bowie, Rolling Stones, Kiss, Peter Frampton, Bob Dylan, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple etc etc). My twin brother, David, had every ELO album and we thrashed them all for weeks before the show so we knew all the words and we sang along till we lost our voices. Am amazing first show for us all.-Paul

I saw the unforgettable July 15, 1978, show with 62,000 others at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Ohio, with opening acts Trickster, Foreigner and Journey. Heavily promoted and billed as a "world series of rock" event, my friends and I arrived at the stadium around noon. I don't recall the tickets costing more than $10 or 15 US. The whole show (with alot of waiting time in between acts) ended a bit before midnight as I recall. Of the opening acts, Foreigner easily stole the show with a big energetic performance, one month after their Double Vision release. ELO's massive space ship stage, well concealed prior to ELO going on, and the landing/opening/closing and lasers were truly quite a spectacle. We had seen lasers a year before at a Blue Oyster Cult show but not on the grand scale of ELO's show. Highlights were the opening Standin in the Rain, along with Mr Blue Sky, Do Ya, Strange Magic, and Hugh's stunning laser-accompanied cello solo. The set list and performance length were beyond our expectations and I don't recall any obvious production problems. This show was easily the high point of our teenage summer. Since rock shows have become overpriced affairs, live music fans have become more jaded, and just about every sound/light/visual stage gimmick has been done already, it seems unlikely that in the future any band could again stage a highly satisfying and unique "never seen that before" performance like ELO did that night. -Ken from Pittsburgh

The show on August 16, 1978 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, Dane County Coliseum, as an "A" show, i.e. they used the Spaceship Set. I was there and won't ever forget it. The local TV stations even filmed a few seconds of the shows opening for their newscasts. -Brian L. Garrett

I was able to track down the date that I saw ELO in concert! It was Sept. 29, 1978 and I saw them at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine. They used the spaceship set and I'll never forget the experience as the "ship" rumbled, the lights flashed, and it opened up to ELO jamming away.-Steve from NY

I attended the Anaheim show in August [1978]--my first concert! As such we decided to party in a pickup truck across the street from the stadium all night the evening prior. About 2 a.m. in a semi-fog we wake up and see a huge spaceship flying through the night sky! Figured we had drank too many brews...but the next night during the show the huge inflatable craft, towed by helicopter, made its appearance and we all understood. The show opened with Trickster and Kingfish, both of whom put the audience to sleep. Then came Journey which rocked, and after a long, long delay in which the audience began to get antsy, Tony Curtis appeared with a laser gun and shot 'Star Wars'-era Storm Troopers off the huge speaker standards. Then he chanted 'E-L-O...E-L-O' till the stage opened up to reveal the flying saucer underneath...incredible...!-Marcus Dietz

I was also at the show in Chicago for the "Out Of The Blue" Tour. I don't remember there being an open act for that show. You've got "Trickster" as the opener. From what I remember, the way that the stage was set up with the spaceship on there, there wasn't any room for an opening band. I could be mistaken, but that just doesn't ring a bell.-Jack Bly

I remember this show fondly.I had great seats,(right next to stage in the old Garden "yellows" and was a major Move/Early ELO fan. Even though I was only 15 years old,I longed for the good old days of Roy Wood and the 10538 Overture. Back to the show, I was very impressed. At the prestigious Garden,of course this was a "Spaceship Show" and the band made the most of it. My standout memory is the Cello solo done with Hugh's hair back like a crazed Paganini belting out these great rock riffs on Cello. Amazing! Only down side and a Spinal Tap moment came when the entire PA shut down during one song,(can't remember the tune,it was 30 years ago). The ticket cost me 10 dollars which these days will buy you a soda at a concert. How things have changed. Great night, great band.-John DiCosola

I attended the Sept. 11, 1978 performance at Buffalo, NY's Memorial Auditorium (known as "The Aud"), which is now in the process of being demolished. I do not recall the opening act.

I was thirteen years old at the time, and remember all of the hype leading up to the concert, including the frequent TV commercials. It was the perfect ending to a great, hot, summer. This was my first rock concert and hanging in the air was the pungent odor of a substance being smoked by attendees in the seats ahead of me.

I remember being blown away by the spray of green lasers and the opening and closing of the gigantic spaceship. I think I grinned throughout the show, and couldnt seem to properly convey my excitement to my parents later that night. I worried that my ears would never stop ringing since I had not been exposed to anything that loud before. They finally did either the next evening or two days after the show.-Paul Iorio

I saw the Stafford Bingley Hall show in June 1978 and was certain they played 'Jungle', I could be wrong it was a while ago, but I remember for the number Bev Bevan came to the front to sing and play tambourine.

It's interesting the mention of the use of backing tapes, the Stafford gig did sound a bit 'suspicious' at times...-Ashley Haynes

I just wanted to let you know that Kingfish was the warm up act at the Sep 8th, 1978 show at Dayton (UD Arena).

One outstanding memory about that show: Me and the group of guys I was with were walking out to the car after the 2nd encore was over (thinking that the show was over). Suddenly we hear the first notes of "Roll Over Beethoven" and we run back in to see most of the extended jam. I'll bet they played almost 20 minutes on that final song. Awesome.

I remember Kelly doing a lot of personal interaction with the crowd, but Jeff very little. During Hugh's cello solo they focused a spinning lazer on the bottom half of his cello. Nice effect.-Steve Jones

I attended the 12-Sept-1978 ELO concert in New Haven. It was (without question) held at the New Haven Veterans' Coliseum (which closed in 2002 and was demolished this past January; no loss, place was a dump). I don't remember a great deal of detail, it was long ago, but they did not use the space ship (the Coliseum didn't have room for it), it was probably the first time I ever saw lasers (certainly in an entertainment venue), and I enjoyed it a great deal (it was my first real rock concert -- I was 14). I do remember one solo -- sorry, I don't know the musicians by name -- played on a bass, with a laser dancing upon it. That was pretty cool. The opening band was Kingfisher or Mockingbird or something like that -- a bird name; they were forgettable.-Thomas White

The first major concert I ever attended was the August '78 show in Chicago. To update your records: Trickster was the opening band. I recall one of the strings on Hugh's cello broke, and Mik filled with a short solo.-Jim Evenson

i was only sixteen years old and had never been to a concert before . i went to wembley on monday june 12 my ticket cost 3.50 i still have the ticket. having never seen a laser in my life imagine what i was going through when that concert began .the most amasing night of my life. went home with windows open in the car and ootb blasting out , elo scarves attatched to the car ,tshirt on and programme held very closely.if i remember rightly fleetwood mac were also playing in london earls court the same night . little did i know that my mothers boyfriend would get tickets for thursday june 15 this time costing 4.25 and i would be there again.as sharon osbourne now says ,fabulous ,completing the most amasing week of my life up to that point.-Mark Manley

The A tour hit Fort Worth TX at the Tarrant County Convention Center (TCCC) I was at sec 101 the show sold out the day of the show of 16,800. This was the talk of the town heavily promoted and I was 14 yrs old. There were Kiss fans there that were very impressed with the lasers, ship and band performance. I was in all. I also have photos but I used a flash and as you know it distorted the images I still have my ticket stub and The Big Night tour Program. The show went without a glitch, you could hear the tape in the background but you could also tell the band was in rare form as they rocked the night away. As they played the lasers would form ELO and different designs above the band and the lasers would shoot everywhere in the hall. The cellos Hugh and Marvin with Mik were all over the stage and their Solos were UN surpassed. My 8.50 ticket was so well worth it I will never forget the show.-William

I attended the concert in Ekeberghallen, Oslo, april 25th.I was only 15 years at the time, and together with three friends, i made the short trip to Oslo after school had finished.We were the only people outside the venue when the band arrived for soundcheck. They were signing autographs and chatted to us.I got the signatures from Jeff,Bev, Mik and Hugh and i still got them !Richard and Melvyn was not in a happy mood, but the others were ok.

I don`t recall much of the concert itself, but the lasers really made an impression on a young lad. I do remember the encore, "Roll over Beethoven" when it was completly chaos on stage.-Pεl Nylend

I went to the Big Night Tour on September 23, 1978, at the Capital Center in Largo, MD. I was 16 and this was the first concert I had ever been to. The opening band was Trickster, and ELO did indeed use the spaceship set. We were so far back I had to use my mother's binoculars to see all the guys in addition to the TV-like screens posted above the stage. Tickets cost $7.70 each. I don't remember the setlist at all except that Standin' in the Rain and Night in the City were so loud, it was painful. I remember during Mr. Blue Sky, Hugh putting his hand on Jeff's shoulder during the line "Mr. Blue you did it right, But soon comes Mr. Night, Creepin' over, Now his hand is on your shoulder, Never mind....." and I thought it was incredibly cute (like I said, I was 16!). My ears hurt for days and days, but it was an unforgettable show. I wore my Big Night t-shirt for many years after that until I put it in a ziploc bag to save. I also still have the tour program and the ticket stub somewhere.-Nancye Dudley

I saw the tour in Dortmund in '78. Trickster opened the show with Phil Bates on lead vocals. (personally they were poor). i recall (my first concert) We were sat in the pitch black for ages. Then u heard thunder and the sound of heavy rain. All of a sudden the arena was lit up by lasers everywhere as ELO opened the show with 'Standin' In The Rain' (Concerto For A Rainy Day). Of course they played all of their then current hits + most of OOTB. The spaceship was projected on a screen behind the band. i believe ELO were the FIRST band [but am not certain]- to use electric instruments with transmitters? they moved around the stage w/o getting tied up in wires/cables. The venue if i remember correctly was Halle 1 Dortmund. Mik Kaminski, Bev Bevan and Hugh McDowell all performed solos brilliantly i recall. A memorable experience!! i do still have the concert booklet somewhere.-Del

I was lucky enough to attend one of the Philadelphia, PA (the Spectrum) shows on this tour, and I seem to recall the opening act was a Grateful Dead-related band from San Francisco known as "Kingfish" (Bob Weir, Matt Kelly, Dave Torbert, etc.) who released 2 albums in '77 & '78 on the Jet Records label.

I have been to many concerts since then, but the ELO "Out of the Blue" tour will always be one of my favorites.-Bill

I went to this concert in June 1978 at the Empire Pool, Wembley - now known as the Wembley Arena.

It was the first concert I ever went to and, as I had just turned 15 at the time, it left a lasting impression with me. I'm sure I still have the ticket stub and program somewhere. If you want I will try to dig them out for you.

I can't remember much about the support act but I seem to recall the name Trickster (not Trixter) appearing on the ticket. I was amazed when I recently found out that Eric Troyer must have been in that band.

I had never seen a laser before that concert so the opening, with the smoke, lasers, spaceship etc was something really special.

Hugh's solo and Mik's solo also were surprises to me. Not sure that everyone else enjoyed them, but I did.

I don't remember anything going out of tune on the night I was there. I was also surprised when I later saw the concert on TV. Firstly for Tony Curtis's totally lame introduction. Thankfully he only appeared on the opening night and I was spared his "performance". Secondly, as on the TV version it was obvious that the original recordings were sometimes being played. I don't have any recollection of this on the night, except perhaps for some of the parts that were not possible to recreate live, as Queen used to do during Bohemian Rhapsody. I'm sure that if it had been like that at the concert I would have noticed and felt cheated.-Mark Hewitt

Song Comments

Introduction By Tony Curtis
"It was a charity concert in the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and had a truly moronic introduction by Tony Curtis (that's right, the Tony Curtis). The audience was well flummoxed by the palaver."Harry Doherty (1978 June 10 - Melody Maker review of June 2, 1978 Wembley Arena concert)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Introduction Theme
The Introduction Theme is actually an excerpt from a 1973 recording of the London Symphony Orchestra as conducted by Andrι Previn. The performance is of Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20-- specifically, it excerpts the end of the first movement called Lacrymosa (Andante ben misurato). Layered over this music is synthesized keyboard to simulate the sounds of the spaceship landing and opening.

"[On the Out Of The Blue tour, the Introduction Theme was performed] only at spaceship concerts."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"[There is] a 1/4" stereo tape of extracts from the original master reels of songs that may (or may not) have needed backing on the night, depending on what the strings were doing. [It includes] the thunder and spaceship effects."Rob Caiger (March 29, 2007 - Showdown mailing list)

"The result was a larger-than-life device that opened up at the beginning of the show with lasers, fog machines, and taped music from Benjamin Brittens Sinfonia da Requiem, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. As it did so, the group appeared from out of the floor, standing on hydraulic risers and playing the entire show, at which point they walked off stage and it closed again with more laser and fog theatrics and a repeat of Brittens music."John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Fire On High (Out Of The Blue Tour)
"In Japan, where they hadn't done any gigs before, they also played Fire On High instead of Standin' In The Rain."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"Fire On High ([backup tapes were used for the] intro only, played before band on stage on selected dates) - 1:40"Rob Caiger (July 20, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

"[There is] a 1/4" stereo tape of extracts from the original master reels of songs that may (or may not) have needed backing on the night, depending on what the strings were doing. [It includes] intros to Roll Over Beethoven, Rockaria! (though this wasn't used as Kelly could do the vocal) Tightrope, Eldorado Overture, Fire On High (Japan, Australia only) and the thunder and spaceship effects."Rob Caiger (March 29, 2007 - Showdown mailing list)

Standin' In The Rain (Wembley 1978)
"The stage darkens, then we see our first glance of the now-legendary spaceship, making it's 'taking off' to the accompaniment of an anonymous orchestral/synthesiser sound collage. Suddenly, the stage lights come on, and there are ELO, dressed in what can perhaps might politely described as-- erm, period costume, opening the set with a remarkably faithful Standin' In The Rain. So remarkably faithful in fact, that many accused ELO of the cardinal sin of miming to backing tapes. This controversy has haunted the band ever since, and is one of the reasons for ELO's decline as a drawing power, particularly in America. So, was it true? Well, yes and no. Concerto [sic] is certainly almost entirely backing tapes, the only instument being recognizably live being Bev's drums. There's a hilarious moment before the vocals start, where you see Jeff step out of the stagelights and take his hands off the guitar to frantically entreat his equipment roadie to 'turn the bloody volume up!' [...] One of the dead giveaways of the songs that use taped introductions is that there isn't enough teme for the audience to applaud in between, thus about three seconds after Concerto [sic] has finished, the opening bars of Night In The City drown out the clapping."Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

"In Japan, where they hadn't done any gigs before, they also played Fire On High instead of Standin' In The Rain. On [the Out Of The Blue] tour they used the most pre-recorded basic tapes on stage. For Standin' In The Rain, Turn To Stone, Mr. Blue Sky and Sweet Talkin' Woman, the group was accompanied by strings, choir, piano, backing vocals, co-lead vocals (!), guitars and synthesizer sounds from the album..."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"To cater for the limitations of the original TV broadcast [of the 1978 Wembley concert], the 24 track live recording was mixed down to one mono track. During the mix down, more of a back-up 'backing' tape was pushed up into the mix on some of the then new Out Of The Blue songs than was actually used at the live show. [...] Standin' In The Rain - is all live. The tape is playing in the background, to lesser or greater degrees depending on the show. What I remember from Wembley was a much heavier, rockier version, with the tape pushed up only for the special effects on the vocal echos (no sequencers or click tracks as bands use now). What you hear on the video is a studio mix for TV and not what was heard at the show."Rob Caiger (March 30, 2002 - Showdown mailing list)

"Standin' In The Rain (complete song as back up, band playing and singing live)"Rob Caiger (July 20, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Night In The City (Wembley 1978)
"For Night In The City, the most enervating track from Out Of The Blue, the effects are minimal, just a few lights, but the balance doesn't allow the string section to come through comfortably so they thrash away in vain. Some thoughtful security men are going around offering cotton wool to ram in your ears."Robin Smith (1978 May 13 - Record Mirror review of April 24, 1978 Malmψ, Sweden concert)

"Most of the songs on the video employ backing tapes to a greater or lesser degree, but it's certainly not fair to say the hand were miming. ELO claimed at the time that they only used tapes for sound affects [sic] that they could not reproduce live. This is, strictly speaking, being somewhat economical with the truth, although it is true for some of the tracks, includng the next one, Night In The City. The 'car horn' intro is taped, but the rest of the song is played live. One of the dead giveaways of the songs that use taped introductions is that there isn't enough teme for the audience to applaud in between, thus about three seconds after Concerto [sic] has finished, the opening bars of Night In The City drown out the clapping."Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

"Also from tape [during the Out Of The Blue tour] came the intros of Roll Over Beethoven and Night In The City."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"To cater for the limitations of the original TV broadcast [of the 1978 Wembley concert], the 24 track live recording was mixed down to one mono track. During the mix down, more of a back-up 'backing' tape was pushed up into the mix on some of the then new Out Of The Blue songs than was actually used at the live show. [...] Night In The City was all live except for the second echo'd 'city' which was added later during the mixdown."Rob Caiger (March 30, 2002 - Showdown mailing list)

"There were also a couple of minor repairs made in the studio to a few songs. Night In The City - which everyone cites as being totally live - has a studio overdub. Listen closely to the second 'higher' and 'city'. Jeff and Kelly are still singing the first part and are physically unable to get to the second part. Night In The City ([backup tapes were used for the] intro only which band played along to) - 17 seconds"Rob Caiger (July 20, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

"...the high 'city' parts of Night In The City [were not pre-recorded but overdubbed after the fact]."Rob Caiger (April 1, 2006 - Showdown mailing list)

"[There is] a 1/4" stereo tape of extracts from the original master reels of songs that may (or may not) have needed backing on the night, depending on what the strings were doing. It's why there's... more of the effects intro to Night In The City."Rob Caiger (March 29, 2007 - Showdown mailing list)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Turn To Stone (Wembley 1978)
"Turn To Stone is a mess and this time it's not the PA. The excitement of the LP is lost. It trudges along and the song is reduced to a mere chug. The audience is beginning to get a mite restless. The band's charisma is now definitely lacking and the crowd have yet to be inspired."Robin Smith (1978 May 13 - Record Mirror review of April 24, 1978 Malmψ, Sweden concert)

"Before the next track Jeff takes the spotlight and does a little 'Hello London' mini-speech, and introduces 'another number from out of the blew' [sic], namely Turn To Stone. This is played live over the backing of the original track, with the guitar part very much to the fore to disguise the fact. The screen is taken up with a blue oval frame, with images of the spaceship in the background. Far from highlighting the enormous visual impact of the spaceship, the multi images are a distraction. Visually, this is the first (of many!) numbers on the video to be spoilt by gimmicky vision mixing. The original programme (and therefore, the video) was directed by the then-ubiquitous Mike 'Supersonic' Mansfield, one of the first generation of promotional video directors (he would later go on to direct ELO's Discovery promos), and to judge by this concert, it's amazing that the genre ever got established! In these days, even the briefest of one-hit wonders has a video to their name, but back in the 70'a video was a real status symbol, as it usually meant you were too famous to go on Top Of The Pops. Therefore, there was a tendency to go to town when you did get to make one, and this is certainly what happened with Live In Concert. Mansfield is like a kid at Christmas with his brand new vision mixer, and takes every oppoRtunity to show it off, regardless of whether it added to the overall image or not."Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

"On [the Out Of The Blue] tour they used the most pre-recorded basic tapes on stage. For Standin' In The Rain, Turn To Stone, Mr. Blue Sky and Sweet Talkin' Woman, the group was accompanied by strings, choir, piano, backing vocals, co-lead vocals (!), guitars and synthesizer sounds from the album..."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"To cater for the limitations of the original TV broadcast [of the 1978 Wembley concert], the 24 track live recording was mixed down to one mono track. During the mix down, more of a back-up 'backing' tape was pushed up into the mix on some of the then new Out Of The Blue songs than was actually used at the live show. [...] Turn To Stone - was performed totally live at Wembley. Again, a tape was ready, playing in the background, but aside from a few seconds at the start of the song on the count-in, was pulled out completely at the concert."Rob Caiger (March 30, 2002 - Showdown mailing list)

"Turn To Stone ([backup tapes were used for] count-in and partial song as back up, band playing and singing live)"Rob Caiger (July 20, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

"[There is] a 1/4" stereo tape of extracts from the original master reels of songs that may (or may not) have needed backing on the night, depending on what the strings were doing. It's why there's a count in to Turn To Stone..."Rob Caiger (March 29, 2007 - Showdown mailing list)

"[There is] a 1/4" stereo tape of extracts from the original master reels of songs that may (or may not) have needed backing on the night, depending on what the strings were doing. [It includes] intros to Roll Over Beethoven, Rockaria! (though this wasn't used as Kelly could do the vocal) Tightrope, Eldorado Overture, Fire On High (Japan, Australia only) and the thunder and spaceship effects."Rob Caiger (March 29, 2007 - Showdown mailing list)

Can't Get It Out Of My Head (Out Of The Blue Tour)
"But things pick up with Can't Get It Out Of My Head. Piano overture, waterfall strings and Lynne with suitably droll Brummy vocals."Robin Smith (1978 May 13 - Record Mirror review of April 24, 1978 Malmψ, Sweden concert)

"The imp like Kelly Groucutt comes to the front announcing a solo piece by Hugh McDowell. The laser beam bounces off the cello forming spidery patterns in time with the music. What looks like a constantly changing flower is thrown up on a screen. The notes are caught in a sombre groove before breaking into Flight Of The Bumblebee (?) as yet another intriguing pattern flashes behind the stage."Robin Smith (1978 May 13 - Record Mirror review of April 24, 1978 Malmψ, Sweden concert)

"Hugh McDowell's cello solo did little to promote that instrument's further acceptance among the populace."J.C. (June 1978 - unidentified newspaper review of June 2, 1978 concert)

"It's not often that one of the highlights of a rock and roll concert is a cello solo. But that was the case Monday night at the Myriad, where thousands of fans stood and cheered Electric Light Orchestra's cellist Hugh McDowell."Bruce Westbrook (July 5, 1978 - The Oklahoman review of Oklahoma City concert)

"McDowell's was the most interesting interlude, not particularly because of his playing, but because of the ever-changing green laser designs projected on his white cello as he played."Carl Diltz (August 20, 1978 - St. Paul Pioneer Press concert review)

"Hugh's solo theme was Flight Of The Bumblebee by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakoff in which Kelly joined in on bass."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

Tightrope (Wembley 1978)
"Perhaps realising he'd gone over the top, Mansfield left Tightrope more or less untouched [for wild visual effects], and indeed the simple fixed camera long shots are far more effective in bringing the spectacle home to the viewer. Musically, again, a taped intro with the rest of the song played live, but the perfunctory approach to the 1ive ar angement undermines the songs stately power."Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

"[There is] a 1/4" stereo tape of extracts from the original master reels of songs that may (or may not) have needed backing on the night, depending on what the strings were doing. [It includes] intros to Roll Over Beethoven, Rockaria! (though this wasn't used as Kelly could do the vocal) Tightrope, Eldorado Overture, Fire On High (Japan, Australia only) and the thunder and spaceship effects."Rob Caiger (March 29, 2007 - Showdown mailing list)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Telephone Line (Wembley 1978)
"The next number Telephone Line comes across as being flat and they don't have the same wondrous noises as on record. The audience don't go a bundle on it and the atmosphere of frustrated love and depression isn't caught up in the song. It really should have been one of the peaks."Robin Smith (1978 May 13 - Record Mirror review of April 24, 1978 Malmψ, Sweden concert)

"Telephone Line is played entirely live, but is marred somewhat by the gratingly overloud way Jeff sings 'Hello, How are you', and Richard's slapdash melodramatic piano playing (close-ups show him chewing gum and scratching his nose with the hand he's not playing with, for god's sake!). The strings come through clearly though and anyone who's heard bootlegs of ELO in concert from 75-76 will be albe to testify that a combination of the string section plus Richard's Mellotron more than ably made up for the lack of an orchestra. Makes you wonder why they felt they needed the backing tapes."Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Rockaria! (Wembley 1978)
"When the first strains of Rockaria [sic] hit the stadium we marvel at the way the sound of an operatic female soprano is being produced from the stage. Trained by the film clip we look high to the left of the stage for a Valkyrie. But no. Ah! Now I see the bass player has his mouth to a mike, must be him."Red Symons (February 10, 1978 - Weekender (Australian newspaper) review of Melbourne concert)

"At last the breakthrough occurs on Rockaria. Lynne is moving at the feverish pace of two steps backward and two steps forward. He's even flaying his guitar a bit and he looks like a cartoon character being given its first animation. McDowell bounds in the air as the band exhort the Swedes to clap their hands. It's band continuity to follow up the excitement with Mik Kaminski's solo violin piece."Robin Smith (1978 May 13 - Record Mirror review of April 24, 1978 Malmψ, Sweden concert)

"Bassist Kelly Groucutt's feeble attempt at a cover-up by imitating the opera singer's voice on Rockaria [sic] really was hysterical."Harry Doherty (1978 June 10 - Melody Maker review of June 2, 1978 Wembley Arena concert)Editor's Note: The implication here is that Kelly was miming to a tape of the opera singer, which he was not. He was actually singing the opera parts of the song.

"Although Kelly handles operatic chores throughout the rest of the song, the intro to Rockaria! is taped, with the band playing the rest live. The song is completely ruined by the yet more multiple images of the spaceship, filmed in such a way that you get the queasy feeling that you are on a roller coaster ride at times!"Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

"[There is] a 1/4" stereo tape of extracts from the original master reels of songs that may (or may not) have needed backing on the night, depending on what the strings were doing. [It includes] intros to Roll Over Beethoven, Rockaria! (though this wasn't used as Kelly could do the vocal) Tightrope, Eldorado Overture, Fire On High (Japan, Australia only) and the thunder and spaceship effects."Rob Caiger (March 29, 2007 - Showdown mailing list)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Mik's Violin Solo/In The Hall Of The Mountain King/Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Out Of The Blue Tour)
This song is known only to have been played live. No known studio recording exists.

"It's band continuity to follow up the excitement [of Rockaria!] with Mik Kaminski's solo violin piece. Like McDowell he goes through some drifting patterns before coming up on a Cossack type jolly dance tune."Robin Smith (1978 May 13 - Record Mirror review of April 24, 1978 Malmψ, Sweden concert)

"Mik's new solo theme was Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms with drums and bass joining in. On other occasions he played Orange Blossom Special by E.T. Rousse and sometimes a violin version in his solo of In The Hall Of The Mountain King by Edvard Grieg."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

Wild West Hero (Wembley 1978)
"Having indulged himself to his hearts content, Mansfield managed to leave Showdown and Wild West Hero virtually untouched, and musically too, these are amongst the best songs on the video, the band's slick yet substantial perforamance of the former coming with the ease of long familiarity, and the changed arrangement of the latter, the vocal harmonie, and Jeff's 'western' guitar a joy to behold. Bev then steps forward to take the mike, thanking the fans for their support over the past two years, and indeed, it's a far cry from ELO's previous London performance, at the 2000 seater New Victoria back in 1976, which wasn't even sold out!"Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

"[On the Out Of The Blue tour, Wild West Hero was performed] only in Great Britain."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"There were three voices [doing harmony the Wembley concert version of Wild West Hero], the third being Jake Commander, monitor technician, engineer, producer, guitarist and singer, standing slightly behind Richard's piano and hidden in the gloom. He was bought in specifically to sing on Wild West Hero and went on to provide more vocal backing on other songs as the tour progressed."Rob Caiger (November 25, 2002 - Showdown mailing list)

"The first line of Wild West Hero is also repaired [in the studio during post production] as it was fluffed on the night. Monitor engineer Jake Commander is also singing live, unlit on stage by Richard's keyboards but providing a third harmony and backing vocal."Rob Caiger (July 20, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Strange Magic (Out Of The Blue Tour)
In this live performance, Bev Bevan stepped out from behind the drums to stand in the front of the stage playing tambourine and singing backup/harmony vocals.

"Bev joins in on Strange Magic a song of love with angelic voices. The crowd is now with the band and both are looking a lot happier. ELO capitalise on this empathy with cosmic lights at the back and a web of lasers amidst expanding light patterns."Robin Smith (1978 May 13 - Record Mirror review of April 24, 1978 Malmψ, Sweden concert)

"Only after the drummer Bev Bevan made a disarming little speech thanking everyone for making them all so famous, did the group and their sound-crew come up with fare fit to lay before royalty and indeed, the less rdent followers among the 8,000 present. Strange Magic, a gentle, early ballad, provided the perfect link before a suite of uptempo songs..."J.C. (June 1978 - unidentified newspaper review of June 2, 1978 concert)

"To fans of Do Ya, Evil Woman, Livin' Thing and Strange Magic, it was an evening of pure delight. [...] The quietest moment of the evening was lead guitarist and vocalist Jeff Lynne's rendition of Strange Magic with Bevan playing only tambourine."Carl Diltz (August 20, 1978 - St. Paul Pioneer Press concert review)

"Having indulged himself to his hearts content, Mansfield managed to leave Showdown and Wild West Hero virtually untouched, and musically too, these are amongst the best songs on the video, the band's slick yet substantial perforamance of the former coming with the ease of long familiarity, and the changed arrangement of the latter, the vocal harmonies, and Jeff's 'western' guitar a joy to behold. Bev then steps forward to take the mike, thanking the fans for their support over the past two years, and indeed, it's a far cry from ELO's previous London performance, at the 2000 seater New Victoria back in 1976, which wasn't even sold out!"Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Sweet Talkin' Woman (Wembley 1978)
Jeff Lynne flubs a couple of lyrics on this recording. During the first verse, Jeff sings "I was askin', for a chance to meet" (rather than the correct lyric of "I was hopin'"). Apparently he confused the lyric and started to sing the line "I was askin' everybody I meet" from the last verse. Also, on the third line from the first verse, "I was waitin' for the operator on the line", Jeff gets a bit ahead of himself and says the "on" of "on the line" a bit early. On the video of the performance, Jeff clearly realizes that he's screwing it up as he looks sideways at Kelly Groucutt in annoyance.

"Mik's lone figure dominates the stage for the (taped) intro to Sweet Talkin' Woman, and again the band play live over a backing track (if you want easy confirmation, just watch Jeff try to sing overlapping lead and backing vocals or when he exhorts the crowd to clap, his guitar mysteriously playing 'by itself'}, but in this case, the joyous sound of Jeff's fully cranked Gibson even makes you forget the tapes, and just lose yourself in this most perfect of plastic pop songs."Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

"On [the Out Of The Blue] tour they used the most pre-recorded basic tapes on stage. For Standin' In The Rain, Turn To Stone, Mr. Blue Sky and Sweet Talkin' Woman, the group was accompanied by strings, choir, piano, backing vocals, co-lead vocals (!), guitars and synthesizer sounds from the album..."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"To cater for the limitations of the original TV broadcast [of the 1978 Wembley concert], the 24 track live recording was mixed down to one mono track. During the mix down, more of a back-up 'backing' tape was pushed up into the mix on some of the then new Out Of The Blue songs than was actually used at the live show. [...] Sweet Talkin' Woman - as Turn To Stone [performed totally live at Wembley a tape was playing in the background] but[the backup tape was] pushed up as the strings lost their tuning mid-song."Rob Caiger (March 30, 2002 - Showdown mailing list)

"Sweet Talkin' Woman ([backup tapes were used for the] complete song as back up, band playing and singing live)"Rob Caiger (July 20, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Evil Woman (Out Of The Blue Tour)
"Yes yes yes-- take it all [the] way on Evil Woman the throb throb of the drums and the flurry of strings. The ending is abrupt. The lights go up, the band do a little bow and then off. No 'thank yous' or 'see you soon'. The crowd is taken aback. How can it all end after an hour and a quarter?"Robin Smith (1978 May 13 - Record Mirror review of April 24, 1978 Malmψ, Sweden concert)

"A brilliant performance of Evil Woman didn't even make the TV broadcast [of the Wembley concert] as during the string break, the [strings] went completely out of tune. It was so painful that sliding fingernails down a chalk board wouldn't even come close...."Rob Caiger (July 20, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

Mr. Blue Sky (Wembley 1978)
"Mr. Blue Sky is put across very fast and McDowell is in action yet again with a 100 yard sprint across the stage."Robin Smith (1978 May 13 - Record Mirror review of April 24, 1978 Malmψ, Sweden concert)

"Strangely enough, Mr. Blue Sky is one occasion when it might have been a good idea to use backing tapes. They only appear for the choir segment towards the end of the song, and the comparitive abscence of their 'safety net' makes the band attempt to overcompensate by playing too hard, battering all the subtleties of the track into submission. And as for cutting the song before it's fantastic climax, well! Once again, the multiple images detract from the impact of the spectacular laser display."Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

"Mr. Blue Sky was left out [of the Japanese concerts performed on the Out Of The Blue tour]. On [the Out Of The Blue] tour they used the most pre-recorded basic tapes on stage. For Standin' In The Rain, Turn To Stone, Mr. Blue Sky and Sweet Talkin' Woman, the group was accompanied by strings, choir, piano, backing vocals, co-lead vocals (!), guitars and synthesizer sounds from the album..."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)Editor's Note: It is now known that the use of backing tracks was not quite as extensive as described here.

"To cater for the limitations of the original TV broadcast [of the 1978 Wembley concert], the 24 track live recording was mixed down to one mono track. During the mix down, more of a back-up 'backing' tape was pushed up into the mix on some of the then new Out Of The Blue songs than was actually used at the live show. [...] Mr. Blue Sky - [the backup tape] kicks in on the choir."Rob Caiger (March 30, 2002 - Showdown mailing list)

"Mr. Blue Sky ([backup tapes were used for] complete song as back up, band playing and singing live)"Rob Caiger (July 20, 2003 - Showdown mailing list)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Do Ya (Wembley 1978)
"To fans of Do Ya, Evil Woman, Livin' Thing and Strange Magic, it was an evening of pure delight. [...] Do Ya, a Move song redone by ELO, was the best tune they did, coming at the end of the concert. Bassist Kelly Groucutt sang and Lynne pounded out power chords that rocked the rafters (here, at least, his playing cut through the 'orchestra')."Carl Diltz (August 20, 1978 - St. Paul Pioneer Press concert review)

"There are no such distractions for Do Ya however, as for its opening powerchords, it's obviously the song to benefit most from the bludgeoningly heavy guitar treatment that most of the tracks have recieved, and also a natural set closer."Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

"There are no such distractions for Do Ya however, as for its opening powerchords, it's obviously the song to benefit most from the bludgeoninly heavy guitar treatment that most of the tracks have recieved, and also a natural set closer."Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

"Firstly though, how does the packaging for the Live At Wembley - The Out Of The Blue Tour VHS videotape] compare to the previous videos? The concert after all, was a supremely visual affair. The cover consists of a number of colour stills of ELO live, but there are no full-length shots of the spaceship in all its glory. The blurb on the back is intelligently written, informative and (for once!) mostly accurate (no rubbish about the concert being at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people, but it does list Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle as being on it, when of course it isn't!), so it just about balances out the unexciting cover."Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

Roll Over Beethoven (Wembley 1978)
"Of course, the real end has to be Roll Over Beethoven. The lasers are aimed at the roof, a multitude of stabbing lights snaking along the ceiling and into the distance. The timing is immaculate, coinciding with the changes in the tune."Robin Smith (1978 May 13 - Record Mirror review of April 24, 1978 Malmψ, Sweden concert)

"It was all brought to an end, wouldn't you know, with a raucous and utterly carefree version of Roll Over Beethoven."Harry Doherty (June 10, 1978 - Melody Maker)

"The show's two lengthy encores were its finest moments, especially the thrilling, pull-out-the-stops finale of Roll Over Beethoven. Though the crowd clamored for more, ELO had given all it had in that number, and it was a fitting conclusion."Bruce Westbrook (July 5, 1978 - The Oklahoman review of Oklahoma City concert)

"The band's second and final encore, Roll Over Beethoven said it all. The song is a fusion of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and Chuck Berry's rock 'n' roll hit, all with a '70s-era shine. Ludwig von B. would have loved the hair-standing finale, one of the best the arena has ever hosted. The band, equipped with wireless electric instruments, was all over that stage as thin green laser beams streaked everywhere. There was no need for a third encore. It would have been anticlamtic. [...] Near the end of Roll Over Beethoven McDowell and Melvyn Gales [sic], the band's other cellist, tossed their bows aside and played their instruments guitar-style."Zach Dunkin (1978 August 15 - The Indianapolis Star)

"Called by for two encores, ELO finished the job with a muddy blast of Roll Over Beethoven that did sorry injustice to the song, but including the most exciting laser effects of the show. Green beams flashed in sync with the music in a dazzling diplay of assymetrical patterns."Carl Diltz (August 20, 1978 - St. Paul Pioneer Press concert review)

"Whatever you can say musically about the inevitable Roll Over Beethoven, visually it's the least gimmicky, and therefore the most succesful song on the video, capturing the band's on-stage antics in full, such as Hughie's attempts to outdo Hendrix on the cello(!), Mel and Richard's famed piano 'duet', and also one of the strangest questions ever to be asked by ELO fans, namely Kelly: did he fall or was he pushed? If you watch the video carefully, at one point Kelly appears to stumble on top of Bev's drum kit; or does he? That's one to keep you going with the freeze frame through the long winter nights!"Andrew Whiteside (1990 - Face The Music fanzine #7)

"Also from tape [during the Out Of The Blue tour] came the intros of Roll Over Beethoven and Night In The City. Melvyn played piano with Richard again during the Roll Over Beethoven solo part."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"On Roll Over Beethoven [in concert] we used to do verse and verse about; someone does a verse and gets a rest on the next one."Kelly Groucutt (March 3, 2006 - Guitar & Bass magazine)

"[There is] a 1/4" stereo tape of extracts from the original master reels of songs that may (or may not) have needed backing on the night, depending on what the strings were doing. [It includes] intros to Roll Over Beethoven, Rockaria! (though this wasn't used as Kelly could do the vocal) Tightrope, Eldorado Overture, Fire On High (Japan, Australia only) and the thunder and spaceship effects."Rob Caiger (March 29, 2007 - Showdown mailing list)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Outroduction Theme
The Outroduction Theme is a repeat of the Introduction Theme excerpt from a 1973 recording of the London Symphony Orchestra as conducted by Andrι Previn, with prerecorded keyboard sounds to simulate the sounds of the spaceship closing and taking off.

"[On the Out Of The Blue tour, the Outroduction Theme was performed] only at spaceship-shows."Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff (1996 Unexpected Messages)

"[There is] a 1/4" stereo tape of extracts from the original master reels of songs that may (or may not) have needed backing on the night, depending on what the strings were doing. [It includes] the thunder and spaceship effects."Rob Caiger (March 29, 2007 - Showdown mailing list)

"The result was a larger-than-life device that opened up at the beginning of the show with lasers, fog machines, and taped music from Benjamin Brittens Sinfonia da Requiem, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. As it did so, the group appeared from out of the floor, standing on hydraulic risers and playing the entire show, at which point they walked off stage and it closed again with more laser and fog theatrics and a repeat of Brittens music."John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 March 20  UK  Eagle Vision EREDV556)

Out Of The Blue Tour - Live At Wembley DVD album (2006 June 27  USA  Eagle Vision USA 801213303793)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  UK  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

Out Of The Blue - Live At Wembley Blu-ray album (2015 March 14  USA  Eagle Rock ERSBD3017)

This page is intended to be a complete record of information on the Electric Light Orchestra Out Of The Blue tour. If you notice any errors or omissions, please contact me at jefflynnesongs@gmail.com and let me know. I strive for accuracy.